Five Annoying Things Sports Announcers Say That Really Need to Stop Now

If anyone here has watched any, and I truly mean any kind of sporting event that involves two teams pitted against one another, you will inevitably get your fair share of obvious statements from announcers. Guys like Al Michaels or even Mike Breen, who I consider to be very good announcers are even guilty of this. I’m not sure if it’s because they have nothing left to say, or because they’re required to keep talking but I tell ya, some statements are so obvious I’d rather just watch blank air time.

And it’s not just booth announcers, it’s the interviews after the game. They’re just as bad. Let me explain to you what I mean. I’ve compiled 5 specific types of statements that announcers always make that couldn’t be any more obvious if they tried.

The “when a team is losing and on offense” statements

This is a classic time in a game for an announcer to point out the obvious. Nowhere is it more prevalent than in football. A team will have the ball, be down by a couple of touchdowns and inevitably someone will say “you know Bill, if they’re gonna have a chance in this game, they’re gonna have to put some points on the board,” or “score some touchdowns. Something to that effect. In baseball, “they’re gonna need to score some runs.” So on and so forth. Can we get a little more obvious here? Do we as fans not know this? How about something like “I’m curious to see what kinds of plays this team will run to try and turn this thing around?” Or maybe a, “I hope this team can find some magic.” Anything but “they need to score points.”

The “when a team is losing and on defense” statements

“Bill, they’re gonna need a stop here.” “The Knicks are really gonna have to step up their defense and not allow points if they’re going to win this game.” Really? Really guys? So when a team is losing, one of the main things they can do to prevent a loss is to prevent the other team from scoring? Nice! Thanks for that. How about something like “Obviously what they’ve been doing hasn’t worked up until now, let’s see if the coach mixes it up a little bit.”

The “when a team is winning” statements

This is almost the same thing as the losing team playing defense scenario. In baseball a team will have a lead and an announcer will say something like “The relief pitchers really can’t let up runs here.” Or in football, it will always be something like “If Tampa can get a stop here, they might win this game.” Can we please cut this out? We’re aware of this. We all know what the score is. How about “does it get more exciting than this? Will they blow it? Will they come through? It’s anybody’s guess!”

The “How’d You” question

Jim Gray, the most annoying interviewer of all time, is the master of of this question. Inevitably after every single game winning touchdown, shot, home run, you name it, some schmuck will always ask the player “How’d you make that shot?” “How’d you hit that home run?” And every time the player has no choice but to answer with a cookie cutter answer like “I saw a good pitch,” “I had a good look” type of statement. For once I wish they’d be like “How? I have no idea how. I ran real fast and I caught the ball. That’s how. I put up the shot and it went in, that’s how.” Can’t the announcers get a little more creative? How about something like “Where does this rank in all time best moments for you?” “How much work did you put in to get to this point?” And don’t get me wrong, these questions are asked from time to time, but can we just remove the dumb ones?

The “What and Why” questions

These are along the same lines as the “How’d You” questions. And once again, Jim Gray is the master at these. After every win or loss when a coach is being interviewed he’s being asked “Why’d you win this game?” or “Why’d you lose this game?” or “Why’d you play such good defense?” I want to hear a coach say “Because we scored more points than them,” or “Because they scored more points than us, that’s why.” I miss Jeff Van Gundy who used to do this in post game all the time.